The New Look
by elenniel
Summary: In which I imagine the circumstances under which Sanji might be convinced to shave off that goatee of his...


_**A/N:**_ _I wondered under what circumstances might Sanji actually go clean-shaven. (Because it's my personal preference for guys. heh.) And that's how this came about._

* * *

The kitchen door slammed. Nami looked up from her book with a start and saw Sanji storm from the kitchen towards the aquarium bar.

"What's wrong with him?" she said.

Robin peered over her sunglasses at Nami. "You didn't notice, did you?"

"Notice what?"

"Ah." Robin raised her sunglasses. "Sanji's new look."

"New look?" Nami was surprised. He seemed the same to her. "What new look?"

"Oh dear," murmured Robin with a shake of her head. "It seems that Cook-san changed his look. Based on what we were talking about the other day."

"What we were talking about the other day..?"

"You know – about Cavendish."

"Cavendish..? Oh!"

… … …

 _"This is Cavendish, huh?" said Nami, looking at a photo in the newspaper._

 _"Indeed it is," said Robin._

 _Nami read aloud the caption of the photograph. "'Cavendish the Pirate Prince.' Well,_ someone _has an ego."_

 _Robin chuckled. "You must admit though, Nami, that he_ is _rather good-looking."_

 _"Oh, I'm not saying that he isn't. Judging from this picture, he certainly is handsome."_

 _"You do like them blond, don't you?"_

 _Nami blushed. "That's just a coincidence. But objectively speaking" – she held up the paper for a moment and put it down again – "Cavendish is better-looking than Sanji-kun."_

 _"Really?" Robin sounded shocked._

 _"I'm just trying to look at it objectively here, Robin. And from a purely objective point of view, I do think I prefer men to be clean-shaven."_

 _"Well, this is surprising. I've never heard you say that."_

 _"You never asked." Nami turned a page of the newspaper. "I've always thought that Law would do better to shave. Sanji-kun too. I think Sanji-kun would look ever so much better without that facial hair. If there's one thing that Zoro has in his favour, it's that he's always clean-shaven. My other feelings aside, he's better-looking."_

… … …

Nami's brows furrowed. "Sanji-kun heard that?"

Robin nodded and said, "He must have. The timing is too coincidental for it to be otherwise."

"Oh…"

"And you didn't notice anything different this morning at breakfast, did you?"

"Well, no. I was half asleep still this morning. I'd slept really really late because of this." She held up the book in her hands. "I couldn't put it down until chapter twenty and even then I only did so because I was simply too sleepy."

"Ah, that explains it," said Robin. "Poor Sanji. He might be thinking of throwing himself overboard right now because his girlfriend didn't notice a change he made for her."

Nami cringed. "Don't say that, Robin!"

"You know how sensitive he can be sometimes. There's good and bad to that side of him."

"I can't tell if you're trying to make me feel more guilty or if you're just being your usual morbid self."

Robin smiled serenely at her.

… … …

Sanji lay sprawled on the curved couch in the aquarium bar and stared at the water in the fishless tank. Nami hadn't noticed a thing. She'd come into the kitchen, yawned, kissed his cheek, ate her breakfast and basically carried on as though nothing was different! It kind of hurt. How could she not have noticed? Hadn't she said that she thought he'd look better that way? And weren't women supposed to be the ones who noticed these things?!

 _Guess I'm the stupid one_ , he thought, bitterly. _I should've known that she might not notice. She only notices the clouds and the wind sometimes._

He ran his fingers along his face. It definitely felt different. He'd been so used to not having a smooth chin that now it seemed strange. He'd let his goatee grow out a little more during his stay on that hellish island as it had seemed like one of the few ways for him to set himself very distinctly apart from everyone else there. Plus, it had seemed like a cool and particularly masculine thing to have. But he'd never known that Nami hated it. If he'd known… Then again, he'd shaved it all off and she hadn't noticed, so what was the point of it in the end?

 _At least it can grow back…_

The click of the door opening made Sanji jerk upright. He wasn't about to let anyone catch him sulking over something like that.

"Sanji-kun?"

"Nami-san!" Well, that was unexpected.

"No, don't get up," Nami said, gesturing for him to stay seated. She sat down beside him before he could say anything else and proceeded to gaze intently at him.

"Nami…san?"

She reached out and touched his chin lightly. He stiffened.

"Did you do this for me?" she asked.

"I… Well, yes."

"You heard what I said to Robin the other day?"

"Part of it," he admitted, looking away and scratching the back of his neck.

He had gone up to the ladies' room, intending to ask them if they would care for some ice-cream on such a hot day, and as the door was slightly ajar, had heard her remark: "… _Sanji-kun would look ever so much better without that facial hair. If there's one thing that Zoro has in his favour, it's that he's always clean-shaven._ "

Sanji had been so staggered by it that he forgot his original intention and had rushed to the bathroom to stare at his reflection in the mirror for a good ten minutes. And turned it over in his mind for a whole day and a half. By the time he went to bed the following night, he'd decided to make the change because it was but a small sacrifice and he would give the world to his beloved Nami-san.

But then - but then Nami hadn't noticed all morning whilst everyone else had (that is, everyone except Luffy, who'd only had eyes for his breakfast bacon), and that had upset him. He'd stalked off to the aquarium bar at first opportunity because it was one of the quietest spots on the ship and, well, here they were now.

"What exactly did you hear?"

He told her. She tilted her head to one side, regarding him in silence for a couple of seconds.

"Sanji-kun."

"Yes, Nami-san?"

"What are we? You and I?"

"Uh…" Was it a trick question? He wasn't sure. "We're… A couple?"

"Correct. What does that mean?"

He gave her a confused look, so she answered the question for him. "It means at the very least," she said, "that you like me and I like you. Right?"

Sanji nodded.

"And have I asked you to get rid of that goatee before this?"

"No…" Okay. She had a point.

"Then, did you think I like you less than Zoro just because of that? Do you have so little faith in me?"

She seemed a little hurt and he hurried to placate her, saying, "No! Not at all, Nami-san! It's just that I… I want you to be happy with me. And you said you didn't like my goatee so –"

"Oh, Sanji-kun. I _am_ happy with you. I chose you, didn't I? Facial hair and all."

Sanji began to feel silly. It was true enough; she had yet to ask him to change anything for her (except his tendency to spout adoring lines at other women). He shouldn't have jumped to conclusions.

"You're right," he said, arms folding around her. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I felt that way."

Nami drew back to look at him. "It's very sweet of you to be so considerate about what I think, Sanji-kun. You really can be a dear. But don't get such ridiculous ideas in your head again. Seriously – Zoro? You think I'd prefer him to you?" She shuddered slightly. "Perona is welcome to have him."

Sanji laughed. "I'd almost forgotten about that. I still want to know how that came about."

"One day we'll make him tell us. In the meantime" – her fingers came up to skim his jawline – "I think I should very much like to find out what it's like to kiss a certain _very_ attractive man whose new appearance interests me quite a bit."

"Oh, is that so?"

"You see, I was unfortunately not paying quite enough attention this morning and missed out on the initial surprise of this new look."

"Ah. Too bad."

She leaned in closer. "Hopefully I can make up for my inattention. Because it's a rather nice surprise all the same."

"You think so?"

"Yes." And she kissed him in a way that more than made up for his disappointment in the morning.

He decided that this new look was going to work out very well after all.

* * *

 _Well... This was amusing to write. ^^; I hope it was an enjoyable read!_


End file.
